Dear Artie, Count Me In Redux
by Hatter of Madness
Summary: When new student Melissa Widman joins glee club, she finds herself falling for wheelchair bound Artie Abrams. But how will Tina interfere? T for language. Rewrite of old fic. OC/Artie. Slightly AU. Some people OOC.
1. New Kid in School

**~*~Dear Artie, Count Me In Redux~*~  
by Hatter of Madness**

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**Usually I don't put an author's note in the beginning but I feel I need to on this story. I wrote a story called _Dear Artie, Count Me In_ on this account, but I didn't like the story line and scrapped it. I revisited this story line in a new light the other day and came up with this. I hope it's better than the last one. It's still on the site, but I do not recommend reading it for sanity purposes. Just stick to this. Please and thank you. By the way, this first chapter is going to be pretty boring, but I needed to introduce the story. Thanks for reading.**

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**Chapter One**

I had told my parents that I didn't mind moving from our beautiful home in sunny Sanger, California to Lima, Ohio, a place I was convinced was the end of my life. My stepfather, John, whom had been my father figure for thirteen and a half of my fourteen years, had said I was being melodramatic and that I needed to learn to try new things, but I was not looking forward to that move.

It wasn't that I was losing any friends in California - I was socially awkward and girls and boys alike teased me. The thing I didn't want to leave behind was glee club. I was a freshman in high school and at Sanger High, I had joined glee. Ever since I was young, I had taken voice and dance lessons and was budding into a lovely soprano, one of the only ones at Sanger. Now, I would be leaving California forever and moving to Ohio.

On the first day in Lima, I was helping my parents unload the boxes out of our SUV when I heard Dad - what I had grown to call John - say, "Missy, your mother wants you outside."

My name was Melissa Amanda Widman, but both of my parents called me Missy for short to save time. Usually, the only time I was ever called Melissa, a name that I personally loved, was when one of my parents was angry.

"Okay," I told Dad, putting down the box in my arms - it was supposed to go in the kitchen, the room I was standing in, anyway - and went outside. Mom was standing at the car, about to unpack another box, when she turned around.

"Missy, someone's here to see you," she said. "Take a break, okay?"

"Alright, Mom," I said and walked to the end of our driveway. There stood a teenage boy, sixteen from the looks of him, wearing a very expensive jacket. I didn't want to be rude and ask how he could afford such clothing and ignored it. "Hello?" I said shyly.

"Hi," he said back. His voice was high pitched - a little too high pitched for my taste, but it was pleasant enough - and sugar coated. "You just move in?"

"Kind of," I said. _Hence the moving truck, right?_

_"I'm Kurt Hummel. I live across the street." He jerked his head across the street at a pleasant enough house. "You new to Lima?"_

"New to Ohio, really," I said. "I'm Melissa, by the way. Melissa Widman." Kurt seemed very nice. He extended his hand to me. I looked at it cautiously and finally shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Melissa." We talked for a little while and he filled me in on the events of Lima, Ohio and the high school I'd be attending, William McKinley High School. Finally, he said the five words I desperately needed to hear: "They have a glee club."

"A glee club?" I said hopefully. "Like a serious glee club?" When I had lived in California, glee was the one thing that kept me focused and kept me from going insane. I had thought I had lost that by moving to Ohio. Luckily, all I had to do, Kurt said, was make it past the glee club teacher, William Schuester. "And Mr. Schue lets _anyone_ in glee club," he added.

"Anyone?"

"Anyone willing to try, I guess." Kurt played with a loose strand of his hair. "He's a Spanish teacher, too, you may have him if you're taking Spanish."

"Ah," I said back. I was never any good at making conversation. "I won't know until Tuesday." My parents had decided that I needed an extra day off before starting school - a day, I had insisted, that I didn't need - so I would be even more confused when I started.

"_KURT!_" yelled a voice from behind us.

Kurt turned around. Coming towards us was a man, middle aged and balding. I assumed it was Kurt's father.

"Yeah, Dad?"

The man was holding hairspray. "You left this on the bathroom counter again."

"Well, there's not many other places it can go."

"Just don't be so cluttered next time, okay?"

"Alright."

The man walked away. I was even more confused. Hairspray? In California, only girls used hairspray. "Uh...hairspray?" I asked.

"It's organic," Kurt responded. I had no idea what that had to do with - well, with anything - but didn't say anything. "So I'll see you around?" he asked.

"Uh...sure."

"Do you need a ride to school? We can carpool," Kurt offered. Kurt, it seemed, was a lot like the sole friend I had had in California, Monica, but I didn't say anything about that, either.

"I'll talk to Dad about it," I said.

"Talk to you later." And with that, he left. It was odd, but it almost seemed like I had a friend.

I went in the house and closed the door behind me. Mom and Dad were standing in the kitchen, discussing the coloring of the walls. It seemed that Mom had wanted a neutral shade like a pale, pale pink or tan, but Dad wanted an olive green. I cleared my throat to announce my presence and added, "Kid in the room."

Mom and Dad immediately stopped. "Oh, Missy," Mom said, as though she was expecting someone else. "Who was that outside?"

"Kurt Hummel," I said, only barely remembering the name as I said it. "He lives across the street. He wanted to know if I needed a ride to school Tuesday. You know...carpooling."

"Oh, sure," Mom said. "It'll save your father time."

I was never sure why Mom always referred to John as 'your father'. I had called him 'Dad' strictly for the reason that ever since I could talk I had called him Dad and when Mom had sat me down and told me about my biological father I had grown too used to the name to stop using it. Mom had said in that conversation that she would refer to him as 'John', seeing as he wasn't my biological father, even though he was the closest thing to a father figure I had ever had.

When Mom was in high school, she went to senior prom with a boy named Jacob. They went to a party after the prom and Mom had gotten pregnant with me. Jacob, not wanting a child, ran off to Mississippi, where he had always wanted to go to, and lost contact with Mom. I had never met him before.

Shortly after this had happened, Mom had met John, five years her senior, and they fell in love. After I was born and Mom was done with high school, she married John. Since I was too young to remember their wedding, I had always assumed John was my father, and to me, he was. He was always there for me, unlike Jacob.

I could never bring myself to call my biological father 'Dad' - to me, he was Jacob, a total stranger. I had only seen pictures of him, and, looking at them, it was obvious I was his child - same sparkling blue eyes, same curly dirty blonde hair, same face shape and structure. Mom refused to associate me with him, though, and did not give me his last name of 'Riley'. Instead of having John's last name, Tyler, I had Mom's maiden name, Widman. I was perfectly fine with this, as I prefered Widman to Riley and Tyler, as both, to me, were merely boy's names.

"Your stuff's in your room," Dad said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "It's up the stairs, last door on the right."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, embarrassed. They had brought all my things to my room because _I_ had decided to be a gossip. I went up the stairs to my new bedroom.

Well, if Mom wanted a neutral kitchen, all she'd have to do was move everything from the kitchen up to my bedroom. The walls were the perfect shade of pale pink for her tastes. A bed, sans mattress, was already pressed against the right wall under a window. The windows had royal blue drapes that horribly clashed with the walls. I assumed it was for privacy that night as I slept.

After a minute or two alone, Dad came up. "How is it?" he asked.

"Um..." did not even begin to describe how I felt. "It's roomy," I said, which was a plus - my old bedroom in Sanger was practically a shoebox. "And there's wooden floors like I wanted." For some reason, I hated having carpetting in my old room. I had asked Dad that if we absolutely had to move here, my bedroom have wooden flooring. It seemed I had gotten my wish.

"You hate it," Dad said. I had hoped that he would find the only two pleasant things I could find to be sufficient. It seemed that my stepfather knew more about me than my own mother.

"Well, a little," I said. "Mainly the walls, though. I _really_ don't like pink, Dad, no matter how close to white it is. But it can stay as long as the curtains go..."

"The curtains stay up for now," Dad said. "We'll get you new ones when your mother takes you shopping tomorrow," he finished, and immediately I was crestfallen. I shouldn't have been - I knew I couldn't get what I wanted that easily. However, as a perfectionist, until the new drapes were up, I would be driven to insanity. "We can repaint if we have to."

"If I put up a few posters and stuff it should be fine." I had brought along posters of my favorite singers and bands, including Michael Jackson, Avril Lavigne, and the Beatles. I even had one or two for the Harry Potter series. Originally, it had been to remind me of home but now I was thankful that I had brought them. I had always wanted a wall in my bedroom where there wasn't really a wall, it was so covered with posters, and now it seemed like I'd be getting the chance. "Thanks, Dad." I wasn't sure why I was thanking him exactly, but he didn't seem to catch up on that. "Uh, will I at least be getting a matress?" The only thing besides the clash of the walls and curtains that bothered me was that there was a bed, metal framed, but no matress.

Dad frowned. "I think it's downstairs...I can go find it..."

"Take your time," I said, and he left again. I started going through my boxes of stuff. There was one filled with magazines and posters. _Time to do some redecorating,_ I thought.

Five minutes, several magazine posters, and three real posters later, my wall looked much better. It was still a bit bare, but the pale pink paint choice was not as obvious anymore.

That night I fell asleep, having a weird dream about kissing someone. It was odd. I couldn't see the boy's face and I had no idea who he was. Whoever it was, though, was sitting down and hard dark brown hair. For some reason, though, somewhere in the back of my mind I felt that this was meant to be, like it was really going to happen. I immediately forgot about it as soon as I woke up.

* * *

After Mom had taken me shopping for school clothes (which I didn't need) and new curtains for my bedroom, I got dressed on Tuesday in a new pair of denim shorts and a white polo with the new black Converse Mom had forced me to get (I already had enough Converse, I defended, but she tried to tell me that all I had were hightops, not just regular sneakers). I pulled my hair out of my face and got ready for school. As soon as I called, "Bye, Mom, bye, Dad, I'm leaving," I heard footsteps bounding down the stairs. Mom and Dad had appeared, Dad with a camera in his hands.

"Dad, I'm fourteen, you don't need t-" I said, but was cut off by the flash of the camera. Immediately my hands went behind my glasses and covered my eyes from the camera flash.

"Good luck, Missy," my mother said.

"I don't need luck," I mumbled.

"You sure you don't need a ride?" Dad asked hopefully. At that moment, a car horn honked from outside.

"Sorry, Dad, but Kurt told me he'd give me a ride," I said, retreating to the door, glad to have an excuse to get out of there. "Bye."

I got in Kurt's car. It was pretty nice, I reflected. As I buckled up, I said, "Thanks-you spared me the embarrassing car ride with Dad."

"No problem," Kurt said. He started towards the school. Under his breath, he was humming some song (though to me it sounded like Gibberish): "Rah, rah, ah ah ah..."

"What?"

"Lady Gaga."

"Lady-who?"

He slammed on the breaks. I realized quickly that I had not said something smart. He turned to me, shocked. "You don't know Lady Gaga?" I was glad that we were the only ones on the street, as we were stopped in the middle of the otherwise empty road.

"Um...well, I just like Michael Jackson and the Beatles more than...well, than Justin Bieber and All Time Low," I said quietly.

He was still staring at me like some sort of freak. "Haven't heard of...you deprived child!" I didn't see what the big deal was. Lady Gaga was only a singer. To Kurt, though, it seemed, she was some sort of idol. He grabbed a CD from the dashboard and shoved it into his car's player, pressing play. Immediately, I hard, "Whoa oh, oh ohhh, oh oh, caught in a bad romance..." This was the song Kurt was singing. To me, it sounded like techno noise, not really a "real song", but for some reason, I liked it.

"_That's_ Lady Gaga," he said. I nodded.

Apparently, not knowing Lady Gaga was the least of my worries.

I had gotten a William Schuester for fifth period Spanish, like Kurt had said I might, but other than that, my schedule did not look promising.

_1. Advanced Biology - Mrs. Villalovos  
2. Pre A.P. English - Mrs. Rouse  
3. Advanced Geometry - Mr. Raynes  
4. P.E. - Mr. Banegas  
5. Spanish - Mr. Schuester  
6. Dance - Mrs. Morey_

I had been put in _three_ advanced classes. P.E. before lunch was favorable, and according to Kurt, Mr. Schuester was a great teacher, but the rest was not that amazing. Kurt helped little as I tried to decipher the map.

"Mrs. Rouse is nice," he tried to assure me, "and Mr. Raynes is cool, too. Mrs. Morey is nice as long as you stay on her good side." That helped the least of all. "Mr. Banegas..." He trailed off. Uh oh. "And, well, I don't think Mrs. Villalovos _really _knows what she's doing. She's pretty new to teaching. I had her as a long term sub last year in chemistry."

I was not having a good time.

The bell rang. "Oh, meet me at lunch, I'll be with Mercedes," Kurt said. I didn't have time to ask who Mercedes was before the rush of students came at me. I was lost to wander the halls.

I looked at my map. Biology was down the hall to my right, continue straight, and take the second left.

This day was not going to be any good.

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**I hope that wasn't _too_ bad. I'm getting into the story a bit better I think. Next chapter, Artie _will_ come in, trust me. In a big/small/Tinkerbell sized way (kudos if you got the _Glee_ joke of what I just said).**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	2. Arguments and Glee Club

Here's what you missed on _Glee_.

Melissa Widman's the new girl in school who doesn't like pale pink walls or carpeting.

She meets Kurt Hummel who is really feminine like her old best friend Monica but at the same time she loves him like a brother.

Also, she has never heard of Lady Gaga before so she's obviously a deprived child.

And that's what you missed on _Glee_.

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**Chapter Two**

I had manuevered my way around school decently well and had only gotten lost going to the girl's locker rooms. I was the only person not dressed out for P.E., a fact that bothered me. In Sanger, so many people chose not to dress out that really you stood out if you _did_ wear your P.E. clothes.

I found the cafeteria when it came time for lunch. Finding Kurt was another problem. The cafeteria was filled with tables, all of them filled. It was difficult to see around people.

Right as I was about to give up on my snipe hunt, Kurt walked in. "How was school?" he asked.

"Bad, because it's still going on," I answered once I recovered from my mini heart attack of having him walk up announced like that. "So, uh, where am I supposed to be going?"

"Come on," Kurt said.

Like I had a choice.

I followed him to a table where there were only two other people, two girls. One was light skinned and brunette, the other was dark skinned and a bit on the heavy side.

"Hi, Rachel, hi, Mercedes," Kurt greeted when we walked up.

"What took so dang long?" the black one asked, moving over so Kurt had room to sit down. "I ain't got time to wait for y'all like this every day."

"Teacher held us after class," Kurt said. "This is Melissa, by the way," he added, gesturing to me. I took one of the empty chairs at the table.

"Hi," I said quietly, looking at the table.

Rachel and Mercedes greeted me and the three proceeded to eat lunch. I wasn't hungry, so I could only watch and pretend to know what they talked about.

Several minutes passed before Kurt said, "Where are Tina and Artie?"

"Fighting again," the white girl said, who Kurt told me was named Rachel, rolling her eyes. "I seriously don't know _why_ they're still clinging to each other." She shook her head, looking down.

"Who?" I asked. I felt so out of the loop being from California.

"Tina and Artie," the other girl, Mercedes, said. "They're in glee and they're not-so-secretly a secret couple, but they fight all the time." Mercedes turned to Kurt. "I really only think she's dating him because she thinks he's 'cute'."

"Why does _everyone_ care about looks?" Kurt asked.

"Well, I don't know," Mercedes said, "maybe you should ask yourself that, Mr. Finn Hudson."

Rachel, who had been taking a drink of milk at that moment, spit it out. I barely dodged it, not wanting to ask what they were discussing. Kurt and Mercedes got into a heated discussion, so I took it as an oppurtunity to speak to Rachel.

"So if Tina and Artie fight all the time," I started, "why are they still together?"

She rolled her eys. "I think it's because of their looks if you ask me. Artie thinks Tina's stutter is absolutely _adorable_, and Tina loves the fact that Artie plays guitar. I think that's about it."

"Not to mention Tina's got a thing for sweater vests," Kurt added from his conversation with Mercedes.

Rachel, who just so happened to be wearing a green sweater vest herself, sat up a little straighter. She flipped her hair out of her face and continued, "Anyway, I don't think they'll last much longer unless something catastrophic happens in the next few days." She picked at her salad, shaking her head. "I really hope they _do_ break up, Artie's been so upset for days now. He's not doing so well in glee club. He's just kind of..." She trailed off, shaking her head again.

I looked down. I had no idea who Artie or Tina were, but I had to agree with Rachel. Maybe breaking up with this Tina person would help him.

"Oh, Melissa," Kurt said excitedly, "were you going to join glee club?"

All three rounded on me. "Oh, uh...well, I have Mr. Schuester next period," I said, remembering my schedule. "I could ask him about it then."

Rachel seemed happy about this, Mercedes said, "You better," and Kurt nodded. Too soon for my taste, the bell rang, and I was off in the mess of students again.

I eventually found my way to Mr. Schuester's classroom. I was one of the first to arrive. I went up to him and cleared my throat.

"May I help you?" he asked.

"I'm new..." I started, nervous still about talking to teachers.

"Oh, are you Melissa Widman?" he asked, looking at his rollsheet. I nodded. "I didn't recognize that name before..." He quickly scanned the seating chart. "Just take the desk in the front row on the very left of the room."

I walked over to said desk and sat down. I quizzically looked to my right. There was a desk next to me, but no chair like the rest of the tables. I didn't think much of it and attempted to do the warm-up on the board, but it was in Spanish, so I had no idea how to begin. Sighing, I grabbed the book from under my desk. The bell had rang already before I realized someone else sitting next to me. I avoided eye contact with them. The period went on for what felt like hours, probably because I couldn't understand the language being spoken.

Finally, the bell rang and students filed out. I went up to Mr. Schuester and asked if he'd sign my schedule so I could take it to the office-it was 'proof' that I had actually shown up that period. He quickly signed it and gave it back to me.

"Um, I've heard you're the glee club teacher," I said.

"That is correct," he replied.

"Um...I was wondering if maybe I could join glee club?" I paused.

"Sing a few notes for me," was the response.

Embarrassed, I quietly sang some of the words of Michael Jackson's _The Way You Make Me Feel_. Mr. Schuester was quiet-he had to be in order to hear me properly. Finally, he said, "We meet after school." I thanked him and left for dance quickly.

The period rushed by in a whirl. As the bell rang, I walked towards glee club, calling Mom.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi, Mom, it's Missy."

"Hi, Missy, what's up?" My mother was like a teenager.

"Um, I just wanted to let you know I was going to be staying after school," I said quickly.

"How did you get detention on the first day?" she asked.

I tried to laugh but instead filled her in on the details of glee club. Finally, when I hung up, I was outside the classroom. As I opened the door, I was met with two people shouting. I saw the back of a girl looming above a boy in a wheelchair. They were the two fighting.

"I'm not making fun of you!" the boy in the wheelchair said.

"Yes, you are," the girl said, her hands now on her hips, "you're laughing at my s-s-stutter!"

"I think it's cute!" the boy said. Obviously, this was Artie and Tina.

"Well, how would _you_ react if I made fun of your wheelchair?" Tina spat. _Ouch,_ I thought.

"Hey!" Artie said, now angry.

"You love that thing more than you love me!" Tina said, not showing any signs of relenting.

"I _live_ in it!" Artie pointed out.

Tina obviously did not find this to be a viable answer and flung her bag over her shoulder, stalking out and shoving me out of her way. I didn't see the need to blame her. Obviously, she was just as upset by this as Artie was.

Artie looked crushed. I don't know what it was, but I felt the need to try to help. I walked over, saying, "Are you okay?"

He was a little frightened by my sudden appearance, which showed by the way he avoided looking at me, and said, "Fine."

"Really?" I asked. I felt it was my human duty to help him. "Because you look like you're about to cry." It was my turn to look away. He looked at me in a way I didn't understand.

"I am," he said quietly.

"What happened?" I asked, hoping we didn't look as stupid as I felt. No, that was wrong. I didn't feel stupid-just embarrassed.

"We're fighting." He looked at me over the top of his glasses like I was some kind of imbecile. "_Again._"

A collective groan from the rest of the group-even Mr. Schuester took time to roll his eyes.

"That's, like, the third time in...how many days?" a blonde girl in a cheerleading uniform asked.

"_Today,_" another cheerleader answered.

I took a seat next to Kurt then as Mr. Schuester started the meeting. Why was it that I was feeliing emotionally attached to Artie for some reason? Was it that his problems with Tina spoke to me? I turned this over the entire club meeting.

It was not a happy thought.

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**I just wanted to update so you wouldn't think I've died over the next few days. I'm going to Hawaii on vacation so I needed to update telling you all why there was no update. That's why this chapter is meh filled. Because I wrote it quickly to get it over and done with. Also, I'm sorry the 'that's what you missed' was so short and boring. It really did suck. Anyway. I hope you like. Please review.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	3. Solo

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa Widman's first day at McKinley is pretty boring until lunch.

That's when she meets Mercedes and Rachel and Rachel tells her about Artie and Tina's fighting.

Then when she joins glee club she sees it firsthand and really feels for Artie.

And that's what you missed on _Glee_.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three**

School was pretty uneventful for about a week or so. I had figured out that I sat next to Artie in Spanish class. We had had a few conversations but nothing major. 'Tina' was never a topic of conversation. All this time, he and Tina were absent from lunch everyday, which Kurt explained as, "They're either in an empty classroom fighting or they're in another empty classroom fighting...in a different sense of the word, or they're in _another _empty classroom fighting...in another sense of the word."

Mercedes and Rachel immediately looked disgusted while I did not get the joke.

"Wait, what?" I asked. "I got that they were arguing and that they're possibly getting smacked around, but what's the last sense?"

Kurt looked at me like I was four years old. "Think of lions at the zoo," he said to put it simply.

Long story short, it turns out I did not want to know what the final sense of the word was.

That day in Spanish, Artie came in, frustrated. As usual, I was interested, but before, he would never say what his frustration was about. For all I knew, he was being bullied by the football team or something and he wouldn't say anything about it.

That time I decided to take a chance. During warm-up, without looking him in the eye, I asked, "So...what's wrong?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"Um, well, you came in looking like someone just loosened the bolts on your wheelchair."

"Well, yeah, they did, but I'm not upset about that."

"Then what's up?" I got the feeling that I was prying, and made a mental note not to do that.

One word: "Tina."

Tina was really getting on my nerves, though I didn't know her. Because of Tina, Artie was never at lunch (and I had learned from Spanish that, although we never looked each other in the eyes, he was a great conversationalist). Every day, one or both of them would ditch glee club. Mr. Schuester was starting to get worried about them, like the rest of us, though I was mainly worried about Artie because I had only seen the small part of Tina who had said, "How would _you_ feel if I made fun of your wheelchair?" That had hurt _me_, not just Artie.

"What'd she do now?" I asked.

He didn't bother to ask what I had meant by 'now' and said, "She lied to me about her stutter. I don't sit well with liars."

Wondering whether he had noticed the irony in that sentence, I sighed. "It seems like she really sucks."

He paused and said, "If you want to put it that way, yeah."

I nodded, though he wasn't looking at me and I wasn't looking at him, so it was anyone's guess if he noticed or not. "If I were you," I suggested, "I'd forget all about her. Obviously if she does this to you, she's not worth it."

"I'm in the process," he admitted. "Hey, are you going to glee club today?"

"Yeah, why?" I asked hopefully. Maybe he'd show up, too...

"I was thinking about going, to take my mind off of things."

"You should," I said.

And for the rest of the period, there was an awkward silence between us.

* * *

I showed up to glee club late, having been let into the locker room after dance late. When I came in, Kurt had saved me a seat in between him and Artie. "Thanks," I muttered to Kurt as I sat down.

"What took so long?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"Dance," I replied.

"Glad you're here," Mr. Schue said, immediately silencing us. He began the process of distributing sheet music to us. "Now, I've been looking at some songs that are gaining popularity at the moment, and one of them is _We'll Be A Dream_ by We The Kings. I'd like to perform that. Artie, think you can handle a solo?"

"Sure," he said, and at that moment I looked down at the paper in front of me.

_Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh _God.

"Uh, Mr. Schue?" I interrupted. He was saying something to the rest of glee club but I couldn't hear him over the pounding of my heart in my ears.

"Melissa?"

"I-I think you made a mistake," I said nervously. "You gave _me_ a solo?"

He stopped what he was doing. "I've heard you sing, Melissa," he said, "and you're good. I think you're capable of the notes in this song. Am I right?"

"Uh huh," I said nervously. There was no way I was singing a solo. After what had happened after my first (and last) solo in glee club in Sanger, there was no way I was doing it again.

"Be ready to perform the song tomorrow," he told me.

"You nervous?" Artie asked.

"You have no idea."

He nodded, though I only saw it out of the corner of my eye, as once again we avoided eye contact. We had a funny way of doing that, I noticed. "Melissa," he said, forcing me to look him in the eye for the first time.

_I was blown away for a reason I couldn't describe. My heart was pounding a lot faster than it was just moments ago. I felt dizzy and naseus at the same time. Despite the fact that I was sitting down, I was feeling weak in the knees, and I felt like I was about to break into a nervous sweat. I was almost positive that I was shaking. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as he looked into my eyes. This was not something I had felt before. This was what Mom had described as love._

All of this happened in one second.

"Uh, yeah?" I asked.

"Meet me here tomorrow after fourth period," he said. After fourth period was lunch-why he didn't just say 'during lunch' was beyond me, but I prefered that he said more.

"Uh, okay," I said. "Why?"

"Well, we're singing a duet together, and you're obviously freaking out. Am I right?" He sounded oddly like Mr. Schue when he added 'am I right'.

"Sure," I said stupidly. "So tomorrow during lunch?"

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

The next day I hurried to the choir room after fourth period, trying to catch up with Artie quickly. I had falled head over heels for him and was eager to impress him.

I opened the door to find him already there, taking a CD out of his backpack.

"Oh, crap, am I late?" I asked. _Way to go, Missy._

"No, you're fine," he said. In his hand was the CD.

"What's-"

"The song," he said, as though he read my mind, though I'll admit it wasn't hard to guess what I was about to say. "I downloaded it last night. It's really, uh...interesting that Mr. Schue chose it."

"You thought that, too?" I asked. Ironically, I was singing a duet with Artie, a person I was falling for-and fast-and the song we were singing talked about how the two singers were in love. Even the title alone, _We'll Be A Dream_, suggested love.

"Well, he's having two high school students singing a song about love. Who's to say we know anything about love? It's just odd."

"Yeah, totally," I said, though I was far from agreeing with him about teenagers knowing about love. However, he was very right about Mr. Schue choosing the song. It was certainly unusual. Did he potentially think...

No, it was merely coincidence that he chose Artie and me to sing the song. He said he thought I was capable of singing it, so he probably thought the same about Artie.

"I hope you know the words," Artie said, popping the CD into a player. I had no idea it was there until that moment. "I'm not helping you with that part."

"I think I've got that covered, actually," I assured.

He was fast-forwarding the disc to my part, no doubt. Obviously he wanted me to sing when the part came up. The female singer's voice filled the room while I made no attempt to start singing. My lower lip quivered.

He stopped the disc. "I realize this is a solo," he started, "but you're singing _so low_ I can't hear you."

"Sorry."

He raised an eyebrow-I'll admit it was an odd thing to be saying 'sorry' for-and waited again. "Just go." There was silence. "What?"

"I can't sing without music!"

He hung his head. That I didn't blame him for-I was giving _myself _a headache. "You _can't_ be serious," he muttered. "Okay, okay. Let's start that over."

"It would help if I had music."

"It would help if you'd calm down."

"It would help if you would stop getting angry with me."

"It would help if we stopped doing this."

"Sorry."

Again, he waited. "Are you going to start?" he asked. "No, wait, let me guess-you need music, right?"

"Well, that too," I said, "but mainly I want to know how not to be nervous about performing in front of people."

"You do realize you joined glee club, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

Silence.

"What's the big deal about singing?" he asked.

I sighed. I had to tell the story I had been trying to forget. "Okay. Well, uh, before I moved here, I used to live in California, right? And there was a glee club at my high school so I joined because I love singing and have been taking voice lessons since I was younger. Well, they gave me a solo in the short time I was in glee club, because, you know, I'm a freshman." I was totally rambling at this point but didn't stop. "So they gave me the female solo in _Seasons of Love_, and I was totally excited because I could hit all of the high notes and it was one of my favorite songs. So when I performed it with the glee club, everyone started laughing at me and making fun of me. Maybe it was because I was so unpopular I only had two friends at school or something, I don't know, but they all said when I hit the high notes that my voice sounded 'squeaky' and someone suggested that I joined Alvin and the Chipmunks. I just don't think I could put myself through that again."

I stopped, waiting for a response. After several moments of silence, Artie said, "Yeah, I wouldn't like singing publicly much after that, either."

Cue dirty look. "Gee, thanks, you've been a big help," I said sarcastically.

He smiled slightly, then said, "Alright. Well, you want to get over your stage fright or not?"

"Yes! Kind of why I'm here, thank you _very_ much."

"No need to get snippy with me." He paused. "Just think about something happy and focus on the words, okay?"

"And that works?"

"It does for me."

That was him, though. What worked for him may not work for everyone else. "But what if..." I started.

"Not to be rude, but you're really kind of a downer."

"Thanks."

"No. I didn't mean it like that. Just...I've been waiting for you to sing already. I need to know how bad you are," he added. "Oh, come on," he said, seeing my dirty look. "You make it seem like you're just this horrible singer."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

"Sing already."

"But..."

He looked at me over the top of his glasses. "Melissa, I will keep you here as long as I need to, and I can tell neither one of us wants to be late next period. So either you open your mouth and sing or it will be a mark against you." He folded his hands in his lap casually. "Whichever you prefer."

Not wanting to be late next period, I sang, "Do you remember the nights we made our way dreaming hoping of being someone big..." and trailed off seeing the look on Artie's face. Either I was really bad or really good, I couldn't tell.

He avoided looking me in the eye as he said, "That was, uh, that was really good."

Okay, so either I was really good or he was a compulsive liar. "Why are you nervous about your singing voice?" he asked. "I bet people would pay to have a voice like yours."

"Yeah, when you do that it's called autotune," I said. "But I'm not _that_ great."

"Are you kidding me?" He sounded frustrated. "Singing with you is going to be very...interesting."

"Can I go now?"

* * *

**Meh. This was okay. It was a lot funnier the first time I wrote it. Yeah, I had to write this twice cause fanfiction was being a dumbass. Although there were parts in here that I added that I really enjoyed, especially the 'autotune' part. I'm not going to show them singing together, so let your imagination run wild. I also suggest you look up 'We'll Be A Dream' by We The Kings on YouTube or something if you haven't heard it, I'm currently in love with that song. AND YES THEY ARE FALLING FOR EACH OTHER SHUT UP I BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. Anyway! I changed the description of the story so that Tina will interfere, but I'm not making her one of the characters in the info because I don't want people to think this is an Artina story. Cause it ain't. I really hope you've already figured that out by now. ANYWAY. Too da loo, gleeks.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	4. Secrets

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa sits next to Artie in Spanish and has a not-exactly-deep conversation about his problems with Tina.

Melissa and Artie get assigned a duet to do together.

During that duet Melissa realizes that she's falling for Artie, and she's falling fast.

And that's what you missed on _Glee_.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four**

"Don't look now, but Artie's coming."

Stupidly, I looked up upon hearing Kurt whisper in my ear. Artie had just entered the cafeteria and was comnig towards our table. Immediately, Kurt hit me—however gently—confirming my suspicions that my latest course of action was stupid. However, Mercedes and Rachel (I had never picked up on why Kurt and Mercedes allowed Rachel to sit with us, as at times it was obvious they wanted to kill her) looked up as well, but quickly glanced back as though nothing happened.

"Hey, Artie, nice seeing you," Kurt greeted when he made his way over to us.

"Where have you been all week?" Mercedes asked.

Artie sighed. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

"No," Rachel said, sensing danger. "You don't have to say anything."

There was a moment of awkward silence from all five of us before Kurt said, "So I take it Miss Cohen-Chang will not be joining us?" _Bad move, Kurt,_ was the only thing I could think of at that moment. Mercedes and Rachel seemed to agree with me.

"No," Artie said simply. I could detect a bit of an edge to his voice. Immediately, though, his voice took on the gentler tone that I preferred as he said, "So, what'd I miss after being away from you guys?"

"Her," Kurt said, gesturing to me. "And not much else. Same craziness as when you're here...you know how it is."

He nodded, not bothering to look at me. Ever since he had helped me with my stagefright issues, it seemed that we avoided looking at each other at all costs.

The conversation was light. No one said anything majorly exciting, so I started to zone out. I was straining to remember what had happened last period...

"Melissa, are you _listening?_"

"Huh? What?" I said, sounding like a complete idiot. I looked down and realized quickly, going red in the face, that I had been completely tuned everything and everyone out, and that Kurt, Mercedes, Rachel, and Artie were all staring at me expectingly. "Sorry," I said quietly to Mercedes.

"About _time,_" she said. "I was just asking if maybe you'd like to hang out tomorrow after school."

"Oh." Of _course_ I would zone out when all Mercedes was doing was asking me a simple question. Mentally, I slapped myself silly. "Yeah, I guess that'd be okay," I said. "I mean, I'd have to ask my parents but I think they'll let me."

She nodded, exchanging a glance with Kurt that I basically took to mean 'she is an idiot'. I agreed.

* * *

The following day, when I was due to go Mercedes' house (we had decided I'd be staying the night, considering it was a Friday), I waited until she was done talking to Mr. Schue during glee club and left with her. To my surprise, Kurt was following us as well.

"What-"

"Didn't I tell you?" Mercedes said. "Kurt's driving us, ya know."

"Actually I didn't know that," I said, "but thanks for telling me."

"Oh, get over it," Kurt said simply.

I walked with them to Kurt's car in silence while Mercedes and Kurt argued about something completely pointless. Despite how close they were, they could argue like an old married couple. Now was one of those times.

The route to Mercedes' house was simple. The entire carride was filled with Mercedes and Kurt continuing to bicker about something pointless. Kurt discreetly turned up the radio to try to drown out Mercedes' voice. She turned it back down. At this point, I was terrified of getting into a car accident.

Finally, Kurt pulled to a stop outside Mercedes' house and we all climbed out, to my surprise. I didn't say anything about it at the moment, but inside I was wondering why Kurt would be following us.

"Mom, I'm home," Mercedes called as we walked in. A woman walked towards us. She looked a lot like Mercedes, plus about twenty or thirty years. "Mom, this is Melissa."

"Hello," she said sweetly.

"Hello."

"Did I hear that you're from California?" she asked.

"Yeah, I went to Sanger High before I came here," I said, nodding.

"What made you move out here?"

I felt like I was going through 20 Questions; it almost seemed that Mrs. Jones was interrogating me to see if my staying in her home would be appropriate. "My dad got transferred," I said. "If we moved here, he would get a promotion. The offer was too good to refuse." I sounded almost like a businesswoman.

She nodded. "Nice to meet you," she said, then walked away. Mercedes mouthed 'sorry'.

We went into the living room and did homework before we actually got to do what we wanted. I noticed that, once it started to get later and later, Kurt was still there.

"Uh...Kurt?" I asked.

"What?"

"Uh...not to be rude or anything, but...why are you still here?"

"I thought we went over this," Mercedes said. "He's staying here, too."

"But..."

"I'm gay," Kurt said.

"That would have been nice to know."

Kurt rolled his eyes. I didn't think it was quite worth that, but I didn't say so.

Later on in the evening, in the process of eating dinner (Mercedes' parent's had ordered us pizza), Mercedes asked, "So...do you like it here?"

"It's okay, I guess," I said. "I mean, it's not like I was leaving much behind at home, anyway. The only thing I knew I'd miss was glee club, and the glee club here is a lot better."

"Didn't you leave any friends?" Kurt asked.

That was a difficult question to answer. At home, I had only one 'best friend' and one other person I considered a close friend, but other than that most people avoided me, even the others in glee club. "Well...I had a friend named Monica," I said, "and I had a guy friend named Sean, but other than that I was pretty much disliked."

"That sucks," Mercedes said bluntly.

"Mercedes," Kurt tried to warn.

"No, you're right," I said. "I mean, back in California I was pretty much the target of bullies for being so into glee club and being socially awkward and whatnot."

For some reason, the entire time we were having this conversation, my mind kept thinking back to Artie that day at school. I tried to stay focused, but my mind kept going back to him. That day, both he and Tina showed up to glee club but were nowhere near each other. It was obvious they were not going to be speaking to each other anytime soon.

"So," Mercedes said, "you've been going here for about two weeks now, yeah?" I nodded, confirming. As though she could read minds, Mercedes asked, "So is there anybody you've got a crush on?"

A knot formed in my throat. It was just a basic question, but it was impossibly hard to answer.

"No."

"Liar," Kurt said.

"What? How am I a liar?"

"Oh, please, Melissa," Kurt said, "we may have only known each other a short time, but I've already figured out how to tell when you're lying."

"Come on," Mercedes pressured. "We're all gir—friends here," she said, looking at Kurt. "And it's not like Kurt and I are going to go running off and telling Rachel or Artie or anyone."

My heart pounded at the mention of the second name. I thought back to the way my heart had soared when we were singing together in glee club and how much my palms had sweated when we harmonized.

"Well, there _is_ someone," I admitted, "but I'm not exactly sure it's a crush, you know..."

"No, I don't know," Kurt said, "because frankly, I can't read minds."

I sighed. "Well, what I mean to say is...well, have you ever liked someone so much that you can't stop thinking about them? And whenever you're around them you start acting like a complete idiot? And when you're alone and thinking of them you just want to start blaring sad music and crying?"

Kurt and Mercedes looked at me. "No," they said in unison.

"But that sounds a lot like love," Mercedes said.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"So you _love_ someone?" Kurt said, putting a hint too much emphasis on the 'l' word.

"Well..."

"That's a yes," Mercedes said. "Who is it? Is he in glee?"

"Yes," I said stupidly, "but I'm leaving it at that."

"What? No fair!" I wished Mercedes had not asked in the first place.

"We won't tell anyone," Kurt said, "it's just that we want to know."

'We'? Mercedes was the one that asked the question in the first place. Ignoring that thought, I said, "Alright, but if I was going to tell you, you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"I believe we've assessed that," Kurt said.

I sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to say this..." I said, shaking my head. "Um...well..." I dropped my voice to a whisper; Kurt and Mercedes had to lean in close to hear me. "Well, this is really awkward, considering he's sort of...around all the time, but...but it's Artie."

"What?" they said. Obviously, they weren't saying 'what' because they couldn't hear me, but, rather, because of the name I had given.

"You wanted to know," I pointed out.

* * *

**Two weeks and no update? Damn, I'm bad. That was a lame ending. I just didn't feel like writing anymore. So...yeah. Sorry for the suck-worthy chapter. It's a big ball of suck (Glee joke from S2E1?).**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	5. My Online Confessions

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa gets invited to Mercedes house for a sleepover.

Kurt shows up, too, and they both bug her about who she has a crush on at McKinley.

Melissa accidentally blurts out that she's possibly in love with Artie. Oooh.

And that's what you missed on _Glee_.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Five**

On Tuesday I wandered down the hall for lunch. I was preoccupied with the impending test I had to take for English the next day (one I was far from ready for, as luck would have it) when I heard music coming from the choir room. Ordinarily I would have continued on—everyone had access to the choir room if needed, after all—but I recognized the song being played immediately, and the sound of a certain person's voice was far, far too familiar.

I inched closer to the door—_you're crazy,_ I repeatedly told myself; this is private—and looked inside. Someone, a too familiar someone, was at the piano playing a song I knew far too well. The gloved fingers I knew too well inched over the keys.

I opened the door slightly; Artie tensed at someone entering the room but did not stop singing or playing.

_And every magazine tells her she's not good enough  
The pictures that she sees break her heart_

I walked over cautiously as he started the chorus to _Beautiful Disaster_ by Jon McLaughlin. His voice filled my ears and it was all I could do to keep myself from closing my eyes and singing along; it was, after all, a personal favorite of mine. However, it was obvious that though he didn't mind an audience, this song was clearly meant to be a solo and not a duet.

_She would change everything, everything  
Just ask her  
Caught in the in-between  
A beautiful disaster  
She just needs someone to take her home_

Taking a seat on the empty bench before the piano (obviously in a wheelchair Artie wouldn't be needing it), placing my arms on the piano and resting my head in the space created by my arms. Artie looked up at the break in the music, smiled at me, then continued on singing.

_She's giving boys what they want  
Tries to act so nonchalant  
Afraid they'll see that she's lost her direction..._

His voice, to my ears, was so much nicer and clearer than Jon McLaughlin's, and far more soothing. It was as though he was singing a personal lullaby for me, except I found it hard to fall asleep in the choir room.

_She never stays the same for long  
Assuming that she'll get it wrong  
Perfect only in her imperfections_

I couldn't help but notice that every so often, Artie would look up from his hands darting across the keys to give me a look or a small smile. I smiled back, but tried to keep my eyes down at his hands. It was not an easy task to do.

_She's not a drama queen  
She doesn't want to feel this way  
Only fourteen but tired..._

I didn't want to show the obvious confusion I had. The words to the song were different than what he was singing. I didn't question it, though; whatever he chose to say was fine with me. The sounds of his voice rising and falling were very soothing. I completely forgot that I was supposed to meet Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel at lunch, focusing, rather, on the melody he was singing.

He went through the rest of the song, me never getting a word in edgewise. Finally, the song ended and he took his hands away from the keys, turning to me.

"Enjoy the show?" were the first words out of his mouth.

I couldn't hide the smile forming on my face; I responded, "You've got a really nice voice...I noticed that the first time I heard you sing." There was an awkward silence. "That was a really good song for your voice," was all I could think of to say.

"Thanks," he said, slightly embarrassed. He looked down, then back at me, saying, "I spent most of last night learning it on the piano."

"I could tell," I said. Another silence followed. I couldn't think of anything to say, but then it dawned on me: "The lyrics are 'only seventeen', not 'fourteen'."

"We're singing about two different people," he told me, 'we' obviously refering to himself and Mr. McLaughlin.

"She's a lucky girl," I said, feeling the familiar butterflies I got in my stomach whenever Artie and I were near each other. I was getting dizzy.

A single tear ran down Artie's cheek as he turned away, saying, "You have no idea."

And at that moment, Kurt walked in.

"Oh, there you are, Melissa," he said, seeing me. I could detect a hint of urgency in his voice. "There's something I have to show you." There must have been a look of protest on my face, as he added, "And no, it cannot wait."

The urgency in his voice was killing me. I think even Brittany would have picked up on the fact that something was wrong. I stood bitterly, saying, "I swear, Kurt, if this is something about your hair or fashion or whatever..." Artie chuckled to himself. Kurt frowned, grabbing my hand as I crossed the room.

"It's not," was all he said before darting me to an empty classroom. Mercedes was in the room already, using her iTouch to pull something up online. I could hear myself speaking. Confusion quickly took over.

"What—" I started, but Kurt gave me a look that plainly told me to be quiet.

"So you _love_ someone?" Kurt said, though it wasn't coming from the person to my left but from Mercedes's iPod.

"Well..." came my voice again.

"That's a yes," Mercedes chimed in, though the real Mercedes' lips were unmoving. "Who is it? Is he in glee?"

And that's what I realized what was going on.

"Yes, but I'm leaving it at that," the pixelized version of myself responded.

"What? No fair!" iTouch Mercedes responded.

"We won't tell anyone. It's just that we want to know," came the sound of Kurt's voice across from me. I could tell I was quickly going white.

"Alright, but if I was going to tell you, you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"I believe we've assessed that."

There came a sigh. "I can't believe I'm about to say this... Um, well..." My voice on the iTouch got quieter as my face in reality got whiter. "Well, this is really awkward, considering he's sort of...around all the time, but...but it's Artie."

"What?" both Kurt and Mercedes, digitilized, answered.

"You wanted to know."

"Well, yeah, but..." electronic Mercedes said before real Mercedes turned it off.

"What...please tell me that was on your iTouch," I said quietly, sinking into a chair. _No. No no no no no no no no no no no._

Mercedes didn't say anything, but she didn't have to respond for me to know the grim reality that someone had posted my confession on the Internet. I hoped—no, _prayed_—that no one had seen it other than Kurt, Mercedes, and I.

"I told you it was urgent," Kurt said, receiving a slap from Mercedes, warning him to be quiet, in response.

"Well...it can't be _that_ bad, right?" I asked. Kurt and Mercedes exchanged a glance, one I had only ever seen from my parents. "I mean, it couldn't have gotten _that_ many hits, right?"

Mercedes confirmed my worst nightmare in very few words: "Seven hundred."

* * *

**Um. Oh God. I haven't seen tonight's _Glee_ yet (if you're reading this at a later date, the day is 10/12/10), but if those spoilers I heard are true, I'm going to vomit. Uncontrollably. I don't even have an author's note for the chapter. Just...no. No, dude. No. Ryan Murphy, if these spoilers are true, no. You are dead to me. You have a sick and twisted mind if this is true. Go fall in a hole if this is true. Please just shrivel up and die if this is true. I can't even...no.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	6. My Sweet Twisted Life

Here's what you missed on _Glee_.

Melissa found Artie in the choir room playing the piano and he was playing _Beautiful Disaster_ which just made Melissa love him even more.

Then Kurt came in and took her to see Mercedes in the library.

They showed her a video someone put online of her confessing her love for Artie but they honestly don't know who did it.

And that's what you missed on _Glee._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Six**

For the rest of the day I had no idea what to do. Spanish was awkward. It seemed that, even if Artie didn't know what Mercedes was talking about at lunch, by that class he knew it all, as he avoided me the entire period instead of the usual conversations I had grown accustomed to, usually about glee club and how I liked the school and everything.

We were given a worksheet when Mr. Schue came up to me with a piece of paper. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that Artie was listening, even if he didn't mean to be. "Melissa, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Schue asked, holding up my quiz we had taken just two days earlier. I had gotten a seven out of fifteen. To some people, that'd be a pretty impressive score, but since the second grade, I had received straight A's. In middle school, I had been valedictorian (even if people had booed when I started to give my speech), and so far, I had had pretty good grades in high school. I even managed to struggle through my math class with an A-, and Spanish so far had been fairly easy.

How had I messed up so badly on this quiz? It had seemed so easy at the time. I couldn't tell Mr. Schue I had no idea why I flunked, either, because then he'd be disappointed in me, not just as my teacher but also my show choir director. I had to make up a lie, and fast.

"Uh, I guess I just haven't adjusted to the new school yet," I said quickly, trying to convince myself this was true. Then, just to make it seem even more convincing, I added, "I guess I'm not really used to the state, either." And just for effect, I finished, "My sleeping pattern is really messed up, too."

"It may be in your best interest that you get a tutor, Melissa," Mr. Schue said. "I don't understand. You were doing so well before."

_Trust me, I don't get it either,_I thought but I mumbled, "Sorry, Mr. Schue," and went back to my assignment, completely mortified. Artie was listening. That was obvious. He had heard Mr. Schue telling me I needed a tutor in _Spanish_ and then heard my lie about not sleeping enough. Well, actually, I never said _how_ my sleeping pattern was messed up. I could have been getting more sleep. But either way, it was embarrassing.

Finally, _finally,_ the bell rang, and I went to dance trying not to loose my head. The day just couldn't end fast enough. I didn't remember anything from the class, but the period didn't seem to go by fast enough. I needed the day to end. When it finally did, I (stupidly) went to glee club.

All talking ceased when I walked in. Puck raised his eyebrows in my direction, then continued to whisper to Quinn and Santana (Brittany was included in this, too, but if she understood what was being said, she didn't show it). Mercedes quickly walked over to me, grabbed me by the arm, and took me to a corner of the room with her and Kurt. "Stay here," she hissed, "and don't talk to anyone."

Rachel came in then, saw me, and started coming our way. "Oh, great," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. I was really wondering why they allowed Rachel to have lunch with them.

"I feel your pain," Rachel said to me. A few people turned to see what she was saying.

Going red immediately, I managed to stammer, "Ah, excuse me?" At that moment, Mercedes and Kurt tried to get both Rachel's attention and mine, but we both ignored them.

"I heard about your situation, and I know how awful and humiliating it must be for you to have every person with Internet access know about your...about your _lust,_ but you have to know that I understand completely if you don't want to be around us at lunch anymore, and it is completely acceptable because you and I both know that Artie and Tina may or may not be seeing each other..."

"You need to learn to shut up sometimes," a voice behind us said.

We both turned and, immediately, saw why Mercedes and Kurt had suddenly become so anxious.

Artie was behind Rachel. He was the one who told her she needed to shut up.

"Did you hear any of that?" Rachel asked in shock.

"Every word," Artie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Can you stay out of people's business? Oh, and by the way," he finished, grabbing the wheels of his chair again, "Tina and I aren't seeing each other." The entire club was living on his every word, trying to make some sense of what had just happened.

Before Rachel could respond, Mr. Schue said, "Guys, calm down! I need your attention!" Everyone at least attempted to listen to Mr. Schue (everyone but me). At the very end of the club meeting, he asked if anyone had something they wanted to share.

I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I stood up and said, "Mr. Schue, if I may." Mercedes and Kurt had told me that at completely random times in glee club, people had gone before the club and sang, for whatever reason. I had decided it was my turn to give it a shot.

I stood before the other twelve members, plus Mr. Schue, feeling all twenty-six eyes bore into me. "I know I'm new here and I'm sure most of you have no idea who I am or even know my name..."

"I didn't even know you were in this club," Puck said before I could finish. "Your name's Jessica, right?"

_Oh my God._

"My point exactly," I said, then cleared my throat, said, "It's Melissa, Puck. Melissa," and started again. "I know I'm not well known, but recently...I've felt the need to say something..." I had no idea what I was doing. Singing was a stupid idea. _Get out while you can,_ I tried to will myself, but instead said, "And I know that at least some of you, if not all, will know who I'm singing about exactly, but I've still felt the need to say something." I paused for a second. I didn't know where the next words came from, but before I could stop myself, they came pouring out. "Within you, I lose myself. Without you, I want to be lost again. I have so much I want to say, and the only way I know how is...is through song."

I turned to the band, told them the name of the song, and, miraculously, they started playing. I closed my eyes, picturing the words in front of me, and opened my mouth.

_Say you're sorry that face of an angel  
Comes out just when you need it to  
As I pace back and forth all this time  
Cause I honestly believed in you_

My voice had started out shaking, and I could feel the entire club watching me, but I continued on anyway, getting stronger with the more words I sang.

_Holding on, the days drag on  
Stupid girl, I should have known  
I should have known_

Okay, maybe I hadn't chosen the right song for what I was trying to say. I'll admit that. But I could feel as though the person I was singing to was getting exactly what I was trying to say, and with that I stole a look at the club. Other than a select few, it seemed that they were really getting into my performance. Mercedes and Kurt looked almost _proud_ of me, Brittany still had a completely blank look on her face but in a way it looked almost happy, Puck was, well, Puck, Rachel just scared me, Tina looked like she understood what I was saying and in a way looked like she was hurt and about ready to murder me in my sleep, but Artie...

He actually looked like he was falling in love with what I was saying, if that's possible. I could see him trying to fight off a smile as I continued on.

_I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale  
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet  
Lead her up the stairwell_

Well, in all honesty, it didn't seem like Artie would be sweeping _anyone_ off their feet or up a stairwell, but whatever.

_This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town  
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down  
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around_

Even Mr. Schue looked pleased with my performance. For the first time in a long time, I felt as though I fit in.

_Baby I was naive, got lost in your eyes  
And never really had a chance  
My mistake, I didn't know to be in love  
You had to fight to have the upper hand_

_I had so many dreams about you and me  
Happy endings, now I know_

I finished the rest of the song, unable to control my inner emotions. When I was done, I actually got applause from some of the glee kids. Mr. Schue came up next to me and said, "This is the kind of emotion I want to see from you!" He then smiled at me and said, "Good job. I'll see you all tomorrow."

I went to get my stuff, and the first thing Mercedes did was embrace me. "That was amazing," she said.

"Thank you," I said, trying to hide my smile. I left with Mercedes and Kurt then, as we were walking down the hall, it happened.

We were walking along, minding our own business, when three football players walked by and threw purple slushies in our faces.

As they walked away, laughing, one turned back and called, "I hope you _loved_ that, losers."

* * *

**Ohai. I've been gone for months now. My apologies! I have _huge_plans for this, I came up with the idea for this chapter yesterday while at Disneyland. So uh yeah. Please review kthxbai.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	7. Alone

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa isn't doing so well in Spanish and Artie knows because Mr. Schuester talked about it right in front of him. Ouch.

Rachel has a hard time keeping out of other people's personal lives, but Artie stood up for Melissa when it happened.

Melissa poured her heart out into a Taylor Swift song for Artie and after Glee club got her first slushie facial.

And that's what you missed on_ Glee._

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Kurt and Mercedes, it seemed, had gone through the motions before. They had slushie all over their face, but seemed otherwise unharmed. I, however, was shaking from the cold and could feel my eyes watering up from tears I had been trying to suppress all day.

"I thought Karofsky was going to leave us alone," Kurt mumbled, "I mean, since we have Finn and Puck in Glee club with us..."

I had no idea who Karofsky was, but I wasn't planning on finding out. Life was so hard. I couldn't take it anymore. My eyes had welled up with tears by this point.

"Melissa?" Mercedes said in a calm, soothing voice. I hadn't realized they had been discussing me. I had gone completely numb, both from the cold and the humiliation. "Are you o..."

I didn't let her finish; instead, I took off running down the hall, narrowly avoiding other Glee clubbers as they made their way home. I ran to the girls' bathroom, not noticing the person in front of me...

I crashed right into them. They turned, surprised, as I ended up on the floor. Completely mortified by this point, I started yelling (literally, _yelling _at the person) my apologies, then curled up in a ball and started to cry.

"Hey, I'm sorry," the person said, sounding as though it was his fault. "Really, I am..." I could hear wheels of a chair coming toward me, but didn't make the connection until Artie said, "Did you hit me that hard?"

I realized he was talking about my tears, so I curled up tighter on the floor and managed to squeak out, "No...rough day..." Rough wasn't nearly enough to cover what I was feeling inside; sure, I was in pain from colliding into Artie's chair, but I was also so embarrassed and felt so alone, even if I did have Kurt and Mercedes as friends. Yes, they had gotten their fair share of bullying (Kurt for being gay, Mercedes for being a bit heavy, both of them for being outcasts in Glee), but they seemed so well adjusted to it. The bullies I had had that day brought back the awful memories of my old school, and I forced back some more tears as Artie came closer, in a desperate attempt to help me up.

"No, it's okay," I said, sitting up and wiping my eyes on my sleeve. "I got it..."

It seemed as though he registered me for the first time, because he inhaled sharply and said, "Ooh. First time being slushied?"

"Y-yeah," I stammered, wondering why on earth he was still talking to me.

He watched for a second, then turned and opened a locker, apparently his. To my great alarm, he pulled out a towel from the locker and handed it to me. "You might want to wash your shirt as soon as you get home," he added as I cleaned off my face, completely covering his towel (white, I might add) with my dark mascara and eye liner. I looked down for the first time since the assault; my once baby blue shirt had streaks of purple on it.

"Funny," I said, calming down a bit. "That was my instinct, anyway."

For a moment, it looked like he was going to laugh, but decided against doing so. "Just wash that," he said, nodding to the white material in my hands. "Give it back whenever. I don't need it right away, anyway."

"Thanks, Artie," I mumbled, standing up. He offered me his hand; I ignored it. "I'll just be going..."

"See you tomorrow," he said, as though he was hiding something, then rolled off in the other direction.

I grabbed my bag and headed for the entrance. Kurt had already left. I walked home, miserable and afraid.

When I walked in, my mom called, "Missy...is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom," I squeaked. She came down the stairs.

"Honey, why are your face and shirt purple?" she asked, getting a good luck at me.

I sighed. "Long story."

She suddenly put on her "I'm-a-mom-and-I'm-concerned-for-my-daughter's-health-safety-and-well-being" face, as she said, "Missy, are you feeling alright?" She came at me, looking into my eyes intently, and called, "John! Where's the thermometer?"

"Dad's home?" I asked blankly. I had arrived home later than I had thought, apparently, as my stepfather called back, "In the cabinet, why?"

"Missy's got a temperature," my mother called back, rifling through the cabinet. God forbid they speak to each other normally.

"Mom, I'm _fine_," I argued, but she shoved the thermometer under my tongue anyway, feeling my forehead. To her (and my surprise, really), it was a bit warm. "99.8!" she said, sounding like a doting mother. I rolled my eyes.

"Really, Mom, I'm fine, I had to walk home..."

"That's it, you're staying home from school tomorrow."

_What?_ My mother could make some pretty rash decisions sometimes, but this one was ridiculous. "Mom, what if I'm better by then? I have to go to school, Mom, I need help with Spanish..."

At that moment, John walked in. "Is something wrong, Bec?"

"John, feel her face," my mom said.

I turned away. "I'm _fine._" I glared at them. "Really. I am. I just think I need to go lie down." I climbed the stairs slowly to my room, called Kurt and told him not to bother with picking me up the next day (I knew Mom would protest school), and laid down on my mattress and cried.

I considered calling Monica, but I couldn't remember the time difference. She could still be in school. Knowing my luck, she would be. I even considered calling Rachel, but I doubted I was that desperate. I looked through the contacts in my phone. There were six. _Dad, Kurt, Mercedes, Mom, Monica, Rachel._ I didn't want to talk to my parents (they were downstairs anyway, I could just holler and they're come running), I had told Kurt I didn't want to talk, Mercedes...well, she was Mercedes, Monica was probably in school, and God forbid I talk to Rachel. But I just felt so lonely, like I needed someone to talk to.

I went to my desk, took out my laptop, and started to type.

_Dear Artie,_

_I'm sorry. I'm sure you're probably getting the heat, too. I'm so sorry. I wish I had never met you. I mean, you're an amazing guy. Even if we don't know each other all that well, we're sort of friends. And we get along. But if we had never met, we wouldn't be tormented like this. And your life would be easier. And maybe you and Tina would still be together. You seemed happy with her. At least, as happy as you could be between fighting all the time._

_I don't know why I'm typing this. Really, I don't. I just feel so alone all the time. I'm sure you've probably felt like that too, even if you don't know I'm saying this. Okay, why'd I add that?_

_In fact, why am I saying _any _of this? What the hell is wrong with me?_

_Oh, I know._

_I love you, Artie._

_Love, sort of, Melissa A. Widman  
Melissa Abrams (just kidding)_

I closed the computer, sighing. Life was miserable.

* * *

**Lame chapter, but I saw the Glee movie yesterday (8/23/11) for my birthday and I realized I haven't updated this in almost a year! Holy crap. I've been planning but I never typed anything. But I got a new laptop yesterday for my birthday (I shouldn't say new since theoretically I never had a laptop in the first place...) and it doesn't have Microsoft Word on it yet. The way I uploaded this is really interesting. None of you care, but you can take an existing document on FanFiction and change it, and that's what I did, because originally, I think, this was a Harry Potter fanfic I'd already posted. Anyway. Don't kill me. I'll be busy as hell this year, but I think I'll be able to upload more often because of Jillian (what I've named my laptop xD Don't judge). Even if I do have AP homework and sports practice for a sport I was forced into joining and drama (I don't know about drama yet, but I'm hoping). Anyway. Please review. If I get one or two reviews on this, I SWEAR, I'll post another chapter tomorrow! Wow long author's note.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	8. Falling For You

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa got a slushie facial along with Kurt and Mercedes and ran off crying.

She ran straight into Artie, who helped her calm down and clean herself off before they both left. Awkward.

Then she got home and her mom went into worried parent mode and...well, that was awful.

And that's what you missed on_ Glee._

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

"Melissa, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I had missed school the day before and was back into my routine: I had gone to class as usual, ignoring the looks and rude comments as best as I could. I sat next to Artie, awkwardly, in Spanish class, attempting to do my work, when Mr. Schue came up to me and leaned forward, trying to talk only to me so the rest of the class couldn't hear. I rolled my eyes. _Here we go again..._

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, worried, his inner parent without even fathering any children shining through. "Mercedes told me you were sick."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. _Just a bit heartbroken._

"That's good, because we have an upcoming assignment in Glee club, and I wouldn't want you to have to miss that."

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly anxious.

"Love songs," Artie and Mr. Schue said in sync. Artie hadn't looked up from his work until I gave him a quizzical look. He stared blankly, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Mr. Schue announced it yesterday when you were gone."

"Oh," I said, my turn to be embarrassed.

"Anyway," Mr. Schue said, lowering his voice a little bit more, "I actually came to talk to you about this class. I know that, for whatever reason, you're struggling. And I strongly believe you should look into tutoring."

"Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. Schue," I said, embarrassed he'd bring it up. _Again._ "I was a bit busy lately, actually, and I..."

"Well, I appreciate the honesty Melissa, but I wasn't exactly _suggesting_ that you get a tutor. I've sort of...set you up with one."

"_What?_" A few people turned to look at us.

"Su trabajo, clase, rápido!" Mr. Schue announced to the room, then turned back to me, speaking quietly again. Somehow, I doubted the class understood what he said as 'your work, class, quickly'. "He's willing to help you, Melissa, and you honestly need that. Not to be rude. But he's the best in the class. I'm sure after a few private lessons at your home, you'll understand a lot better if you just..."

"'Best in the class'?" I quoted, beyond annoyed at this point. "And who would _that_ be?"

"Me," Artie said beside me, still focused on his work.

* * *

Artie and I had arranged, begrudgingly, for him to come to my house that Saturday. I was not looking forward to it. Our house was still somewhat chaotic; boxes from our move littered all available space.

"It'll be okay," Mercedes reassured me Friday as we walked into the choir room. It was our final performance day for our musicals. Out of the people in Glee, only Rachel, Kurt, Quinn, and Tina had a song ready, which worried me slightly. It was as though the other members didn't take Mr. Schuester seriously.

I had a song selected myself, actually, but I was terrified to perform it. The last time I had performed in glee club, I had been slushied. I was too afraid of the visions of purple slushies and giant football players that danced in my head.

I listened to the others perform. Rachel had a beautiful voice, naturally, but started crying in her solo, which bothered me. Kurt chose a girls' piece, which didn't surprise me at all. Quinn tackled an amazing song, but I didn't feel it fit her voice and she was trying too hard to make it in her range. Tina went finally, singing (believe it or not) a Taylor Swift song about lost love.

That surprised me. Tina did not seem to be a huge Swift fan. She dressed Gothic, always, and she sort of intimidated me the first few times I saw her. I did not think that the song _Picture to Burn_ was even a love song, let alone a song Tina would sing.

Mr. Schue looked quizzical, but he said at the end, "Thank you everyone for sharing. We still have some time to do those numbers, so be thinking about what songs you want to do. Oh, Melissa, Artie..." He looked at the two of us. "Can I have a word with you?"

I felt suddenly glued to my chair, but when Artie wheeled himself to Mr. Schue, I figured I had better stand up. I turned to Kurt, mouthed 'wait for me', then walked over to Mr. Schuester as Kurt and Mercedes left in the direction of the parking lot. I shifted uncomfortably as I approached, tensing as I approached the teacher. Artie glanced at me uncomfortably as though giving Mr. Schue a message to start talking.

"Thanks, guys," he said, checking to make sure there was no one else lingering in the room, though I'm sure we would have noticed if there was. "Anyway. I know you probably want to go and jump start your weekend, but you've made a commitment to me."

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about, then Artie said, "It's okay, Mr. Schue. We've talked about it and I'm going over to Melissa's house tomorrow."

"Huh?" I blurted out.

"Tutoring?" Artie said, frowning as though I had cancelled on the study session. "You aren't backing down on me, are you?"

"Oh, that." It was my turn to frown. "Mr. Schue, I..."

"I'm not trying to punish you, Melissa," Mr. Schue said, "but I don't want this club to get in the way of your study sessions. You need the extra help. Artie doesn't bite, I'm sure you'll get along."

"Oh, we will," I said in what I hoped was a cheerful tone, but judging from the looks on their faces, I assumed I had not done a good job at that. Instead, I assumed, it had sounded sarcastic. I turned in direction of the exit.

"Melissa, what's a good time to come over?" Artie asked as I made my way to the door. I froze hearing him call by name; my heart started pounding in my ears.

"Uh..." I turned around. "Whenever." I shrugged. "Just not too early, my dad doesn't like being woken up. But not too late, either, my mom likes to reinforce my curfew at all times."

He smiled shyly, then said, "Is two okay?"

"As long as you're okay with my house being a total mess, sure," I said. I reached for the doorknob, then stopped, turned one more time, and said, "By the way, I still have your towel from the slushie attack."

Mr. Schue looked up in concern. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Melissa, you got a slushie to the face the other day?"

"I believe the technical turn is 'slushie facial', but that's what it looked like to me," Artie shared.

Mr. Schue sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to Principal Figgins. Have a nice weekend, both of you. _Hasta luego._"

I started to leave, when Artie said, "Melissa, can you get the door for me?" Awkwardly, I let him aside and he wheeled in the same direction I was going in. He was pulling out his phone, stopping so he could text someone on the other end. I waited for him nervously, unsure of whether he wanted me to or not. Finally, he noticed what I was doing, blinked a few times, and said, "As long as you're going to do to that, you might as well help a little." I thought about what that could mean, but then I noticed he had taken his hands off of the wheels of his chair.

I cautiously walked up behind him, took the handles of his chair, and, without meaning to, dropped in on the conversation. "Are your parents divorced?" I blurted out without thinking.

"What's that?" he said, turning to look at me.

"Oh," I said, turning red. "Sorry, I just...I read your conversation, and you asked whose turn it was to pick you up, so..."

"No, they just take turns," he said. "Mom picks me up some days, Dad another...it's just easier that way."

"Oh," I said again. "Sorry I asked."

At that point, I realized we were at the front door of the school and I held the door open for Artie so he could wheel himself outside. "Thanks," he said, turning in the direction of a blue minivan.

I walked towards Kurt's car, feeling the all-too familiar butterflies in my stomach once again.

* * *

**Filler chapter like a boss~ I promised yesterday if I got one or two reviews I'd update today, and I got them, so I wrote this chapter. This is supposed to be a bonding moment... STORY TAKES OFF NEXT CHAPTER WHUT WHUT. Not to give anything away. But really. Anything can happen. So don't expect anything major. Although I said words that mean other words so yeah. Btw, I know they did love songs in season two, but it's supposed to be like them falling in love and junk. DONTCHA KNOW. UGH I AM SO TIRED AND I HATE WATER POLO. I don't even want to play my dad wants me to since he's coach and blah blah blah nag nag nag. Hatter isn't happy. DONTCHA KNOW. Anyway! I'd appreciate reviews but whatevs. Oh and on a side note this guy that goes to my school is really hot KTHXBAI.**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	9. Lessons in Love

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa was told by Mr. Schue that she really needs a Spanish tutor.

The glee club is doing love songs and Tina does one by an unlikely artist that isn't really a love song.

Mr. Schue finds Melissa a tutor, and he sets them up, but the tutor is _Artie?_

And that's what you missed on_ Glee._

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

I stayed up late that night, cleaning my house as fast as I could. My mom thought I was crazy, but eventually my stepfather helped me, too, when I told him I was going to be having company the next day. I eventually crashed at around three or four in the morning, after I had lost track of time, and slept in really late. I was awoken the next morning by _Waking Up in Vegas_ by Katy Perry, my ringtone. Half asleep, I picked up. "Hello?" I mumbled into my pillow.

"Are you sick or something?"

"Whode thes?" I said into my pillow again, yawning.

"Uh, Artie?"

I sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake. "Artie?" I repeated.

"Yeah, this is Melissa, right?"

"Uh...yeah...uh, not to be rude or anything, but how'd you get my number?" I said, walking over to my closet.

"Kurt gave it to me," he said simply. "Anyway, I'll be over in about half an hour. Is that okay?"

"Why so early?" I asked, shoving clothes aside.

"You _do _know what time it is, right?" I mumbled 'uh huh' in reply, until he said, "Okay...it's one thirty..."

"Uh...right, I knew that," I said, as though that was obvious. "Cool. See ya." I hung up, then said, very loud, "_Shit._"

* * *

I brushed my hair as the doorbell rang, running to get it and hollering, "I've got it, Dad!" However, my mother beat me to the door.

I ran right into my mother and she turned, saying, "Sorry, Missy, your friend's here," then opened the door, and was immediately surprised to see a person in a wheelchair in front of her.

"Hello," Artie said cheerfully, then noticed me, and laughed. "Nice hair."

My hair was half brushed. Of course. "Hey," I said coolly. "Sorry about that," I said, hurrying to finish.

"At least I'm not tutoring you in beauty school, or else we'd both be in trouble," Artie said, wheeling himself over the threshold. My mother looked confused, but walked away anyway as I led Artie into the living room. We had a short conversation, then Artie said, "As wonderful as this conversation is, I'm really here for Spanish..."

I frowned. "I was hoping you'd forget."

"Where's your book?"

Suddenly I flushed red. "Uh...I'll go get it. It's in my room...upstairs..."

"Okay," he said, folding his hands in his lap as I went up the stairs to grab the textbook. I grabbed it off my desk, then checked my reflection in the mirror involuntarily. I looked like a wreck. At least he hadn't ran (no pun intended) out of the house screaming. I straightened my shirt, then went down the stairs and found, to my horror, Artie and John. Talking. Having a conversation. About me.

"Get outta here," I said to him.

"Ah, come on Missy," my stepdad said, smiling guiltily. "Your friend's nice."

"Get lost."

"Not something to say to your fa..."

"_Get out of here!_"

He stood up, ruffled my hair, and left. I flopped down on the couch in a huff. Artie laughed. "Parents?" he said.

"Unfortunately." I opened the book. "Okay, oh wise Spanish speaker. Go ahead. Attempt to teach me."

"Hand it to me." I did hesitantly. Just what I needed: To look stupid in front of him. "_Hola, me llamo Artie. ¿Cómo te llamas?_"

I frowned. "Seriously, I know that much. Me llamo Melissa, tengo catorce años, no biggy."

"Sure," he said. "But I think reviewing might help."

I folded my arms over my chest. "You're mean."

"You don't call Mr. Schue mean when he greets us everyday and asks what he said," he said, smiling.

Over the next two hours (the _longest_ two hours of my life), he attempted to get me caught up with the rest of the class. However, when he was reviewing the verb 'tener' (to have, for any of you non-Spanish speakers), I was hopelessly confused.

"I just don't _get it,_" I said, hanging upside down from my chair.

"Maybe because all the blood's rushing to your head," he said patiently.

I sat the right way. "Well, shouldn't that make it easier?" He gave me the famous 'look', the one teachers always have when they want students to pay attention. "I don't get it. Why is the 'yo' form of 'tener' different?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem discussing your age."

"But I didn't understand it then. I just knew it meant 'I am fourteen years old'. And that's another thing. Why do you have to say 'I have fourteen years'? That makes it sound like I'm only gonna live to be twenty-eight, doesn't it?"

"I didn't make the rules," he said, a bit less patiently now.

"Well, if _I _did, I think I'd make it 'tieno', not 'tengo', because then it'd be like all other words."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like all other words with the exceptions of 'venir', 'poner', 'saber', 'conocer', 'ver', 'hacer'..."

"Wow, stop, you're getting ahead in the book, you're confusing me."

"Because I think 'tener' is as simple as they come."

"Well, it's not!"

"I'm going to the bank," my mother announced from the corner. She was smiling. "I swear, Missy, you're just like me and John when we first got married."

"_Mom!_" I said bitterly, turning red. "Knock it off!"

"Love you too," she said, going to the door. The door clicked shut and I groaned, very loud.

"Yeah, that's how I feel about teaching you," Artie said, closing the book. He did not sound like he was on my side anymore.

"Shut up," I said. "Do you think I _asked_ for you to tutor me? Or for me to be horrible in Spanish? Or for Mr. Schue to think I needed extra help? I'm awful at Spanish, I'm never gonna need it in life anyway. I don't even know why I have to learn it."

"If you don't want me to tutor you..."

"Oh, I don't," I said bitterly. "I don't. I don't need someone telling me how _stupid_ I am."

"You're not stupid."

"Yes I am!" I said defiantly, standing up in front of him and leaning in his face, yelling. He flinched at the sound of my voice. "I'm stupid, okay? I'm dumber than Brittany. I know it! I know I'm an idiot and that the only reason Mr. Schue thinks you'll help me is because _you're_ not stupid but I'm as dumb as a post! That's why the entire school hates me, because I talk without thinking and I said stupid things because _I'm stupid!_"

He let this sink in, then said, "Huh, I've never heard someone openly admit they were stupid before."

"Get lost if you don't want to help me," I said, flopping on the couch with tears in my eyes. The least he could have done was tell me (again) that I wasn't as idiotic as I said I was.

"I never said I didn't want to help you."

"So stop getting angry at me!" I stood up again, pacing, hoping it would help me think.

"Stop that," he said.

"There you go again!" I shouted.

"I wasn't doing anything!" he shouted back.

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Oh, I give _up..._" I said, then the door to the living room opened.

"Hey, Missy, I have..."

"_Go away!_" we both shouted.

"...some errands to run..." my stepdad said quietly. I had just fully noticed his presence in the room. "I guess you really want me to get them done..." He picked his keys up off the table and left the room (and the house), fearfully. The sound of the door closing irritated me for no reason.

"Fine, if you don't want to help me then leave," I said.

He took his hands off the wheels of his chair. "Make me."

"Are you out to get me?" I groaned, rushing forward and pushing his chair after my stepfather, towards the door. He put the brake on. I glared at him. "You're fighting with me when I'm trying to make you leave?" I said, almost shouting again. "Do you hate me or not?"

"No."

"_Then what's your problem?_" I shouted, getting in his face again and afraid the neighbors would call the cops on me.

He kissed me.

I leaped back in shock. "Wh-wha-huh...wha-why-what'd you do that for?" I stammered.

"Oh, I don't know," he said casually, "according to what I've seen online..." He smirked. "You _love_ me."

I screamed (well, I don't know if it was a scream...I mean, it was the same noise, just not as loud), completely shocked by now, going white. "Y-y-you've _seen_ that?"

"And who at McKinley hasn't?" he asked, getting on my nerves again. If I didn't like him so much, I probably wouldn't have slapped him. Or there's also the fact that he's paralyzed. A combination of both, to be specific. He took the brakes off, then started going toward the door. "See you..."

"Why are you leaving?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat.

He stopped, confused. "I thought you _wanted_ me to leave?" he asked.

"Let's not get carried away."

He smirked again, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really," I said, my voice shaking. He started laughing at that. "Stop laughing at me!" I said.

"Sorry, but your Spanish _is_ pretty funny," he said jokingly. "Along with your English..."

I glared at him. "Okay, so if you've seen that stupid video, why aren't you laughing at me for it? Why'd you kiss me?"

"I thought it was sweet," he said, shrugging. I could tell there was something he wasn't saying. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. "And, well...I love you, too."

This must have been a horrible dream. I was waiting for Kurt to call me and tell me that I had overslept again. I was waiting for the smell of my mother's cooking (albeit bad) or the sound of John coming inside after getting the morning paper. But it was definitely real. I could tell, because of the way I could feel butterflies in my stomach. Or the way I was unable to gather a single thought that made any sense. Not to mention the way I could feel my heart pounding in my ears.

I suddenly pushed Artie's wheelchair back against the wall. He looked at me in fear. "What are you..."

Unable to control myself, I leaned against him and kissed him back.

* * *

**Didn't see that coming. x3 So um. Hi. The way I pictured this in my head was so inappropriate, not gonna lie... But uh. I kept it PG, unfortunately, though. I think I would have lost readers I don't have if I didn't. But at the same time I would have gained some pretty kinky ones. -.- It's a lose lose situation. Anyway~ I'm hungry so um yeah. And I really need to start my history homework so don't expect me to update fast again. Okay. Bai~**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	10. Surprise

Here's what you missed on _Glee._

Melissa and her dad stayed up late to get the house clean for Artie's tutoring.

She eventually crashed and overslept and really didn't understand Spanish. At all.

She got into a fight with Artie and in the middle of it Artie kissed her and said he loves her too. Awkward.

And that's what you missed on_ Glee._

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Before I knew it, we were in a make out session.

I thought it would have been awkward, but it wasn't. Eventually he had had me sit in his lap as we continued, though we probably shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. The weirdest part was, we hadn't even discussed fully what had happened between us. Every once in a while, Artie would clench his fists on the wheels of his chair. I wasn't sure what this was for, but at the time, I didn't care. At the moment, I didn't care about anything.

That's when the worst part of my day happened.

I don't know how I didn't hear the door, but all of a sudden I heard, "_Melissa Amanda Widman! What the hell are you doing?_"

I whipped around as fast as I could, seeing my mom standing at the front of the room, her arms folded over her chest, an angry look in her eye.

"Mom," I said. "I...uh...hi."

She narrowed her eyes. This was not going to be good. I hopped (almost literally _hopped_) off of Artie's lap. "Mom, I can explain..."

"Go."

"Well, I..."

"Not _you._" She turned her focus to Artie. "Get out of my house."

"Mom, no!" I said. "He was just tutoring me, and..."

"Really?" my mom said. "In _what?_ Because _that_ did not look like school to me!"

"Well, at _first_ he was..."

"Oh? And _then_ what?"

I started rushing to explain what happened. "Well I was getting angry and then you walked in and said you were going to the bank then we started shouting and then Dad left so then I started yelling again and we were practically shouting simple sentences at each other and I asked if he hated me and he said no which made me feel really good but really mad at the same time so then I asked what was wrong if he didn't hate me so he kissed me and then we were talking about our feelings and everything and then I pushed him against a wall and well...you know what happened."

Mom blinked. "Say that again, in English please."

"Ugh!" I groaned. "Okay, go ahead and ground me. I don't care. But Mom, _please_ don't tell Dad or his parents." We seemed to forget that Artie was still in the room.

"What, you think you're going to get off easy on this, Melissa? You think that just because you say 'please' makes everything alright? Well, the real world doesn't work like that, Melissa Widman!"

"Don't you mean 'Missy'?" I said brightly.

"_Melissa Amanda Widman..._" she shouted.

"Whoa, I guess not," I said cautiously.

"Melissa. I put a lot of trust in you..."

"And what is so wrong with that, Mom?" I said, suddenly angry, tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm a teenager, you need to stop treating me like a baby!"

"I should go..." Artie said quietly, but Mom and I were yelling at each other by this point, so he seemed rooted to the spot.

"Well, you're not _acting_ like a teenager!"

"It's just _kissing_, Mom, it's not like I'm like Quinn Fabray and got pregnant!"

"Don't you _ever_ mention that in this house!"

"Why, just because _I _was a mistake doesn't mean I'll make the same one..."

"Go upstairs!" Mom shouted, pointing at the stairs.

"_I hate you!_" I said, finally crying tears of anger.

"_Excuse me?_"

"I hate you!" I said, completely forgetting about Artie altogether. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! You can't keep telling me what to do! I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"You know what, Melissa, sometimes I wish you were."

"And what does _that_ mean?" I said. "I don't see what's wrong with kissing someone I love..."

Mom froze. "_What._ Did you just say?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I said, _I love him!_"

"So you _love_ someone you just met and _hate_ your own mother?"

"Well I do right now!" I said, crying harder, my eyes burning.

"Go upstairs," my mom repeated, sounding calmer, yet somehow scarier, now.

"Fine!" I shouted, uncrossing my arms and clenching my fists. "I hate you!" I stormed out of the room, up the stairs, and slammed my door. I flopped on my bed, tears pouring out of my eyes.

* * *

**Artie's POV**

That was probably the scariest thing I had seen in my life.

It was even worse than the car crash that had left me paralyzed, if that was possible. I had never seen someone shout at their parents like that before, let alone hear the parents shout back.

Melissa's mother looked crushed as the door slammed up the stairs. It seemed as though Melissa had just ripped her heart in half.

"Um..." I said behind her. "This is awkward."

"Oh!" her mother said in shock, turning around. She smiled apologetically at me. "Sorry, Artie, I forgot you were here."

"I'll just be going..." I said, taking the brake off my wheelchair.

"I'm sorry about Missy," my mom said. "She just...she knows I want her to be careful with boys." I could tell, thinking of one of Melissa's last sentences before she left the room. _Just because _I _was a mistake doesn't mean I'll make the same one._ "I can be overprotective sometimes..."

"I get it," I said, "but I really think I should be going. My parents should..."

"I see," she said. "I'm really sorry," she repeated.

I started moving forward, then said, "Could you get the door, please?"

She awkwardly opened the door and held it for me, and I left the house. It was awkward. When I left, I texted my dad, asking if he could come pick me up, and waited. That's when I started thinking _more_ about what Melissa said. _Just because _I _was mistake doesn't mean I'll make the same one._ I had noticed then that she didn't look like either of her parents, and neither were blonde. The latter could easily be passed off as genetics, but it didn't explain how she didn't look like either of her parents. I thought maybe she had been adopted, but it didn't add up, because she had said that she was a 'mistake' and her mother had seemed offended.

My head was still reeling when my mom stopped in front of the house.

* * *

**Kurt's POV**

I was looking through my closet, trying to figure out what to wear to dinner with my dad, when I could hear screaming coming from Melissa's house. I looked out the window. Nothing unusual seemed to be going on.

Then, a minute later, I saw Melissa's mother open the door as Artie left the house.

I smirked. Figures.

I went back to my closet.

* * *

**Ohai I lied here's another chapter for you~ I had to add Artie's part because I just imagined him sitting there like "mlia" after Melissa left. And I really just added Kurt's part for fun xD **

**Average Ordinary Everyday Phsyco: I could have given you a review reply, but I decided to answer it here in case anyone was wondering. No, I don't really have a dreamcast for her. I really just imagine a regular teenage girl with blonde hair and light eyes (blue or green, my imagery changes from time to time) with glasses. Nothing really special. ~shrug~**

**-Hatter of Madness**


	11. Ballads?

Here's what you missed on _Glee_.

Melissa and Artie got into a make out session after they both finally admitted that they were in love with each other but then Melissa's mom came home and caught them.

Melissa and her mother kind of got into an argument and they both said things that they really didn't mean to each other like the ever famous: "Well, you'renot _acting_ like a teenager!", "Just because _I _was a mistake doesn't mean I'll make the same one!" or my favorite, "I hate you!" Ooh.

It doesn't really have much to do with the story, but afterwards, Kurt was trying to change his clothes so he could go have dinner.

And that's what you missed on _Glee._

* * *

A few days passed without incident. Other than a few short conversations in Spanish, things between Artie and I fell back into their usual routine of not making eye contact and ignoring each other's existence.

On Tuesday I finally figured out why Mr. Schue wanted me to get a tutor as he gave us a pop quiz on what I vaguely remembered Artie calling "stem change verbs". These were verbs like 'tener', which had what Mr. Schue called a "goofy yo form". The day before he was practically drilling us: "The stem only stays the same for 'nosotros'." He then gave an example: "_Tenemos el conocimiento. Yo estoy feliz._" It was just starting to click for me that 'yo' was Spanish for 'I'.

It was probably best that I spoke only in English.

On Thursday, Mr. Schue had our tests graded. It was the end of the period and Artie and I were still ignoring each other. I wanted to ask him what was going on between us when Mr. Schue walked up with a paper in hand. _Oh, great,_ I thought, already feeling myself flush, _Mr. Schue is gonna tell me how bad I did on the quiz, then Artie's gonna get blamed because he's supposed to be helping me..._

"Melissa?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Schue?" I stammered.

However, I had no reason to worry. The poker face he had broke into a grin as he held up my paper, with a red A+ on the top and a smile on his face. "Great job on the quiz," he said. He looked at Artie with a smirk. "I guess the tutoring session really paid off?"

Artie nodded. "Melissa's a great student." He flashed me a look that said it all: _We'll talk later. _"I don't see why she's not getting it on her own."

_Thanks, Artie,_ I thought as he finished his sentence.

Mr. Schue laughed. "Well, thanks for helping out, Artie." He walked away.

Artie studied me for a moment; I tried to ignore the prying glances, but it was finally too much. "What?"

He shook his head, turning away. "Nothing."

* * *

That day we had glee club. When I got to the club, all of the other glee clubbers were excitedly talking about something. Artie sat in the corner, pretending not to take notice. I frowned when I saw Puck look at me while he was filling in Santana, Quinn, and Finn. Santana's eyes flicked over to Artie. That's when I knew something was up.

I walked up to Kurt and Mercedes, who were both busy talking to Tina. "Hey," I said.

Tina narrowed her eyes at me and went back to listening to Kurt and Mercedes, whose voices had dropped when I walked over. I said nothing, instead waiting for them to finish what they were doing. Finally, Tina shot me the most disgusting look I had ever imagined and walked away. "Ouch," I said to Kurt and Mercedes. "What's her problem?"

"What's her problem?" Mercedes said. "Do you even _know _what people have been saying?"

"No," I said, confused. "What?"

"The rumor is that you and Wheels had a bit of...well, let's just say _fun _at your tutoring session on Saturday," Kurt said. "And your mom seemed pretty angry. Patched things up with her yet?"

_What? _"Whoa, what? How did you know that Artie and I..." I stopped, more focused on the second part of his speech. "How did you know that my mom and I were angry at each other?"

"Well, if my suspicions are correct, Artie got to your house at about two o'clock in the afternoon. You probably made light conversation and then excused yourself to go get your Spanish book. I'm going to guess that then you studied with him for two hours, most of those two hours you were completely clueless, then both of your parents left, and your mother returned home to find you, oh, I don't know, either in his lap or against the wall playing a little game of..._baseball._ I'm gonna guess you got all the way to first before you got your third strike?"

I stared at him, my mouth open. It was scary how accurate all this was. "Uh...no."

"You're a liar, Widman, and I know it."

"Well, I don't understand how you even got the times and such correct, but what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I'm going to guess our friend Artie wasn't smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and now all of glee club knows that you're more or less a couple."

"Well, that's where they're wrong. We haven't discussed that at all. And why was Tina so bitter?"

Before I got an answer, though, Mr. Schue came in the room and wrote the word 'Ballad' on the board, then turned to us. "Ballad. From Middle English _Ballad_. Who knows what this word means?"

"It's a male duck," Brittany answered.

I had grown used to this already from Brittany and said nothing, rolling my eyes. Mr. Schue almost considered this for a second, then called on Kurt, who was sitting beside me. "A ballad is a love song."

"Sometimes, but they don't always express love. Ballads are stories set to music, which is why they're the perfect storm of self-expression. Stories and music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out"-a few eyes flicked over to me (two of them being the baby blues that belonged to Artie), but I ignored them-"any other way. Okay, now, Sectionals are in a few weeks. And there's a new rule this year. We have to perform...a ballad." He pointed at the board when he said this.

Rachel said something rather excitedly about how she mailed a letter once a week to the Ohio Show Choir Committee about ballads.

Mr. Schue regarded her with a grain of salt, continuing, "Okay. Here's our assignment for the week. I'm gonna pair you off and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner." As Artie was right in front of him, he demonstrated on him. It was crazy, but to me it almost seemed like he was giving him advice for our relationship. I stopped myself from shaking my head. _What _relationship? We didn't have a relationship. "Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express, and make them feel it."

Artie looked like he was making a mental note to himself when Finn announced, "I pick Quinn."

Mr. Schue met this was an immediate round of 'no's'. "Too easy. Your partners will be chosen by fate."

The room oohed loudly. I was just nervous that I'd end up with someone like Puck or Santana. It seemed that if anyone in glee club had a bone to pick with me, it would be them, and they would not be shy about it.

"Ooh, yeah," Mr. Schue said lightheartedly. "I put all your names in this hat," he said, picking up a black hat from the piano. "Whoever you choose is your partner."

Santana did a quick headcount. "There's thirteen of us," she said, "one of us won't be paired up with anyone."

"Then I guess I'll have to put my own name in for now," Mr. Schue said, quickly scrawling his name on a blue piece of paper. "Who's up first?" Puck stood and went to the front of the room. The rest of the room, sans me who was busy praying that it wasn't me, gave him a drum roll. He picked up a blue paper, read it, and announced, "Mercedes."

She looked at him, rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Hell. _No,_" she whispered.

It was awful of me, but the only thing I thought was, _At least it wasn't me._

"Alright."

Matt went up, pulled out a second blue paper, and said, "Quinn."

Quinn smiled, raising her eyebrows, but looked shocked. Of course she wanted to be with Finn; just a second ago she had been resting her head on his shoulder when he announced that he had chosen her as his partner.

Finn was next, going to the hat, blinking at the blue sheet he got, and said, in surprise, "Kurt."

I could see Kurt suppressing a grin as the rest of the room giggled. "Mr. Schue, I don't know if I can do this with another guy," Finn said quickly.

"The fates have spoken, Finn," Mr. Schue said as Tina went up. The look on her face, plus what she was mouthing (though I seemed to be the only that caught the _please be Artie _thing she had going on), told me she had made up her mind about who her partner would be if she had her way. "Other Asian," she announced sullenly.

Artie went up as I muttered something to Kurt about the great luck the three of us were having, though I probably should have been paying more attention as Artie chose his blue slip and read off the name...

"Melissa."

"Huh?" I said involuntarily.

The rest of the room oohed a second time, all looking at me. Tina, especially, was glaring daggers, though I didn't see what so wrong with singing with Mike. Mercedes gave me a knowing look. "Hey, hey, hey," Mr. Schue said; he had let the comment Mercedes said, Quinn's response, and the laughter met with Kurt's name go unnoticed, so why should he have cared about a bit of laughter?

But I was honestly so grateful for it.

* * *

Let's just say if Artie was trying to express something that Mr. Schue had said, he had listened, because the ballad that he chose was _The Scientist _by Coldplay. I had never heard the song before, like our first duet, and looked it up online. To my surprise, I found that it was a piano ballad, but more specifically, it was another love song.

He asked me to meet him in the choir room again so we could go through the song, but he said that since we would be singing to our partner, I wouldn't have to sing to the glee club unless I absolutely wanted to. Obviously, he learned from our first performance how bad my stage fright truly was. I thanked him for that.

His voice, as always, was beautiful and rhythmic. It almost put me to sleep, but in a good way. At the end of the song, I said, "You really should teach me how to play piano."

"Well, let's focus on getting your Spanish under wraps first," he said, smirking. "Mr. Schue never said if he wanted me to tutor you more, so..."

"Oh." I didn't want to ruin his day by having to put up with me, so I said, "Um...well, if you want to help me some more..."

"Hey, I'm getting extra credit for this, of course I do," he said, laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha."

"Hey." I looked up. "We never did work things out with us last time."

* * *

**Ljdsfdslfj. I haven't written this story in six months o.O I'm sorry I've just been busy and forgot all about it but then I saw _On My Way _the other day and the "what I'm looking forward to" speech thing that the glee club made inspired me to update this. I obviously changed what happened in _Ballad _so that Matt was there, and therefore got paired up with Quinn so that Artie and Melissa could be paired up. Yes this was important so that I could work on their relationship in better detail. I'm also trying to make the "and that's what you missed" parts longer like on the show. So um reviews are nice. Very very nice. And appreciated. But not needed. I need to work on my English essay but I really don't want to :c I hate essays so much. I wish they were more like writing that I do for fun. Ughhhh. :c Anyway, please review. :D Please let me know what you thought of On My Way in the review as well.**

**- Hatter of Madness**


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